During my recent research of the virtual world, I came across quite a specific campaign (pro). Dechox or chocolate detox is a campaign designed by the British Health Foundation. As we can read on the project website, “dechox is a challenge, on which more than 16000 people in Britain in March decided to stop eating chocolate, supporting the research of heart disease”. But really is dechox or chocolate detox necessary? According to the initiators of the action chocolate has catastrophic affects the human body (see page with the popular myths about the chocolate). Let me present you just a handful of the popular beliefs. According to the British Health Foundation the idea that dark chocolate is healthier than milk or white is nothnig more than a myth. I would like to hereby remind ya’ll that dark chocolate may be the most valuable component of both bulking and slimming diet (sic!) due to the beneficial ingredients in cocoa, which help keep insulin levels in check, as well as a number of micro-and macronutrients which have a beneficial effect on the human body. Another random myth that is quoted on the website refers to the consumption of chocolate by diabetics. The authors of the campaign say that “If you have diabetes then you should be able to consume moderate amounts of chocolate. There is no need replace the usual chocolate products with products for diabetics.” And what is the reason for abandoning that idea? On the very page we read: “products for diabetics are richer in fat and may nevertheless cause an increase in blood sugar levels.” Superb! I do understand that...

Recently I dispappeared form the internets. It turns out that livin la vida offline can be so absorbing that I’m not always able to collect thoughts and write down a couple of sentences. Since gym is one of the places on my map which I visit quite often, obviously diet and nutrition play huge role in my life. Not to be judged of hypocrisy, I decided to take a deeper look at the chocolate and its part in a diet. Is chocolate diet or diet chocolate an oxymoron? These days everyone has to fit. Fit ain’t no myth. You know who who eats chocolate these days? Those lil lazy fatties. Do you want to be one of those? I bet your a*se you do not. So no chocky for you, right? But is that really so…? So let’s start up with a really boring part -let’s look into what diet really is. So what is so different about fitness gurus diet plans , can average couch potatoes apply some basics and turn their physiques virtually overnight into the ones that resemble crossfit champions? Well, in short, the difference is lies mainly in the recommended supply of macronutrients. In the diet of an athlete by far the biggest role play proteins. Depending on the training objectives (reduction or mass gain), a person who is physically active should consume between 1.7 and 3.3 g of protein per kg of body weight. Chocolate is mainly carbs and fat …. So is it possibile to fit chocolate into the lives of the fit? Whether chocolate truly makes you fat I discussed separately. Hardly anyone is a cyborg and hence almost everyone is...

I was away for a while. I admit it. Renovation has taken over my life and my home. By some strange coincidence one meter of dust lying around my house did not help my writing ability (or willingness) Those of you who follow my Instagram (choca_loca_offical, ) could probably figure out that the last photos significantly deviate from the main- chocolate- theme. This is also to do with the fact hat I was deprived of my workplace , and chocolate tempering machine still does not work. In one word: armageddon. So being caught in the middle of this crisis I’m just sitting around hiding from the builders and wondering on some random stuff. Like the subject I wanted to address today So can chocolate mend a broken heart? The term “comfort food” is probably familiar to all gluttons . In the consolation of all kinds of sorrows, many of us happen to be reaching for chocolate but why? Why don’t we find relief in horseradish or kale? Why in the state of lowered mood we’re after chocolate? Imagine a situation. Your BFF calls you and sobs on the phone “A guy dumped me today! I have a broken heart. Please meet me and comofort me – some cauliflower or broccoli might come handy right now” It may seem that healing of a soul can executed by one simple trick, all so hated by the nutritionists all over the globe. I am referring of course to the mixture of sugar and fat. However, these two components should be treatesd In order to understand the phenomenon of chocolate we have to go back to its history. Yaawn I hated history when I was...

Friday, 6 A.M. The alarm rings. I am slowly trying to crawl out of my bed. When I lean out from under the duvet I go shaky. From the cold. I look out of the window. it looks pretty much like autumn to me. Darn! So early this year. Early autumn invariably reminds me of w school uniforms that children used to wear. It reminds me of all the fuss when new school books had to be bought. And also those delicious plums that I used to pick in grandmother’s garden. I would stuff my face with them, even while still balancing on a ladder. This chilly morning, It stroke me! It was time to prepare essence of autumn munchig. Prunes in dark chocolate. Gateway to the most melancholic season. Even the first step of the process is rather challenging. I am referring to drying- or dehydrating – of plums. Based on my experience I can advise never to dry plums in the oven or in the sun. Unless you have a proper dehydrator I suggest you stick to “ready-made” prunes ( pick the organic ones, without any added sugar). Dear reader if you’re wondering why I’m suggesting shortcuts, wonder no more. Mainly because I respect your sanity. How so? Plums contain tons of water which makes the whole dehydrating process time consuming and inefficient. The other problem is that plums contain a lot sugar, so they becomes all to easy to burn. If you’re feeling couragious and decide to dehydrate plums in the oven, please let me know the results. Once we have dried plums – or prunes , we can...

Hot chocolate is a sweet, thick, dense and packed with spices. It’s just ideal for winter, frosty nights. So should drinking chocolate during summer be recommended for masochists only? I’ve been wondering for a long time, whether drinking chocolate at 30°C was generally a good idea. Since my flat is located in the attic of a historic building, I had an opportunity to get the idea of living hell.Hot drinks? No, thanks. I’ll pass We can have it all- frozen hot chocolate (it’s not an oxymoron!). I figured that afterall you can have it all. Eat a cookie and have a cookie. Or in this case drink hot chocolate in the middle of hot summer. The magic behind this project lies in a preparation of a substantially hot drink and then serve it ice cold. Easy peasy,right? I must humbly admit at this point I’m not a cuisine genious and I did let myself get inspired by an outstanding Pastry Chef David Leibovitz. However, I decided to go vegan on his recipe and spice it up a little bit. So let’s get to work! Frozen hot chocolate (serves two). Ingredients : 1 cup almond milk or coconut milk, (I used almond) 50 g dark chocolate 2 tbsp of cocoa powder Stevia, or other sweetener to taste Ice cubes or A pinch of cardamom A pinch of cinnamon Preparation: pour 2/3 of milk to a small pot (the kind of dedicated milk pot you can find at your Nan’s house yeah you know what I’m talking about) Heat gently, and stir continuously Add the cocoa powder and stevia While stirring add chopped dark chocolate Add the cinnamon and...

As per my recent post chocolate tempering is not going so great these days. I decided to make a little upgrade and so I purchased a tempering machine Unfortunately, here in Poland the only models available are big, expensive and dedicated to industrial use. And so I decided to cheapen the experience and find something suitable, second-hand online Much to my delight, I found a small chocolate tempering machine dedicated to household by ChocoVision- C116MINIREV1 Rev. Chocolate Tempering Machine, Mini. As much (or as little) as 350 USD can buy you one. May be not the cheapest household machinery but if in use constantly, the investment will soon be returned. Unfortunately, this model is not available in Poland and therefore I had to make a purchase in the United States (what was I thinking???) Before removing my credit card from my purse I asked five people with technical background for confirmation if I can go wild with the purchase and if supply 230 volt on a device designed for 110 volt is safe. From each of those people interviewed by me I heard a different version of what I do, to prevent such equipment from burning. Finally, following advice of the most techinical mind from my pack, decided to purchase the adapter US-EU with grounding. With trembling hands and heart I plugged in my new acquisition. And it worked! For full 15 seconds before the machine burned… So I guess that’s that when it comes to my adventure with auto tempering. Yay And so if it works this is what it does...

Holy Moly! I don’t quite know how this happened, but I have two articles left hanging since like a month! I guess it’s the infamous writer’s block – I wasn’t able to get past one paragraph. Meanwhile I looked at at the calendar, and there I saw it. Mamma Mia! Mother’s Day approaching! This time I decided to stay a little ahead of the calendar and make gift chocolates today. But this courageus idea left me thinking – what should the chocolates for Mother’s Day be like? Definitely unique and one of a kind (oh, these cliches, don’t we all love them). Definitely they should be heart-shaped, preferably red or pink. But what about the filling? How to make something unforgettable? The paragraph you are about to read is going to be a little pretentious, Let ya’ll be warned! I wanted to make chocolate hearts with filling that reflects the uniqueness of the relationship between a mother and a child. It is said that the mother’s relationship with her daughter is one of the most difficult human relationships. Having the experience of unilateral, I consider that this relationship is certainly colorful and definitely the emotions accompanying it cover pretty much the full spectrum. Having thought that, I realised I had my answer right there! What does this mean in practice? Americans, the nation famous for its bravery , discovered already a while ago the hypnotically-narcotic combination of sweet and salty (salted pretzels or salted potato crisps coated in chocolate, or …salted caramel!) Who has not tried this freaky combination just yet, should quickly fix this error. The sweet-salty combination doesn’t come up as obvious...

I never thought of this website to be a food blog, but after a while I reconsidered. Every now and then a recipe won’t do any harm. After all, on a cold autumn evening nothing will improve the mood like handmade and homemade chocolate. And not just any chocolate, but raw, made directly from cocoa beans! Forget about supermarket treats or pseudo-chocolate recipes straight from hell (take cocoa powder, addhalf a kilo of butter, a kilo of sugar, mix until smooth and voila ‘!) Let’s make some real chocolate instead. The stakes are high. I dare to claim that if you’ve never tried chocolate made direclty from cocoa bean, this will blow your mind away. Ingredients to prepare 70% chocolate : 70 grams of any cocoa beans 30 grams of cane sugar Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste Coffee grinder (version for hipsters : mortar) Preparation: Grind cocoa beans and sugar until smooth ( approx. 10 min.). Add cinnamon and/or nutmeg to taste Done! Eat with a teaspoon of same, or sprinkle over your favorite dessert. I recommend to sprinkle it over vanilla ice cream. It’s a match made in heaven! It really is so simple and yet so delicious! If you tried this at home, let me know in the comment...

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